Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh

 

To understand the Prophet’s dealing with the issue of Banu Qurayzah, we need to keep in mind the following facts:

1- Banu Qurayzah broke the pact of peace they signed with the Prophet (peace be upon him); they committed treason not once but twice, and collaborated with the enemies who laid siege to Madinah; they were determined to exterminate the tiny Muslim community in its entirety.

 

2- What they committed was treason in the most blatant form; as such it was inexcusable. The punishment for treason according to the Law of Moses was nothing short of execution.

 

3- They were the ones who chose Sa`d b. Mu`adh as the arbitrator as he was their ally in pre-Islamic times; and he is the one who ruled that their combatants should be executed while sparing others.

 

4- Those who use such instances to paint the Prophet as a war monger may do well to recognize the facts that the total number of casualties of all of the wars of the prophet never added up to more than two thousand on both sides. Compare this with the millions of lives exterminated and the wholesale destruction unleashed upon many countries by America and the imperialist enterprises all over the world.

Let us remember the prophetic words of Jesus (peace be upon him):

“Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:5: King James Version).

For details, I would also urge you to read the following article:

Re-Examining Banu Qurayzah Incident: here is the link to it:

Re-Examining Banu Qurayzah Incident

 

5- As for waylaying of the caravan, it also ought to be studied in the context: The Prophet and the believers with him were driven out of Makkah leaving their possessions and assets in Makkah; so the Prophet’s campaigns directed at the caravans were intended to compensate for some of the losses.

6- The Prophet ordered the execution of combatants including those who were stirring up war. In those days the role of poets was in no way lesser than those who fought in the battles; as the Prophet told his poet Hassan ‘Your words are hard-hitting than the swords and lances.”

Almighty Allah knows best.